Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 327 - 327 326 Whales in the Azure Sea

327: Chapter 326: Whales in the Azure Sea 327: Chapter 326: Whales in the Azure Sea Gathering pearls in a shell field carries risks.

The ocean is a vast treasure trove accessible to the powerful; humans are invaders, while the sea tribes are the masters.

When their methods of benefit clash, countless disputes of various kinds arise, even leading to life-and-death struggles.

Over the years, during the harvesting seasons of the shell fields, such vicious incidents have been far from uncommon.

In truth, it’s hard to speak of right or wrong; why should you be entitled to harvest what is unclaimed and I not?

Human pirates wouldn’t attack at this stage because they lack the ability to dive to the seabed and harvest pearls themselves—they’d exhaust themselves to death.

Pirates generally choose to strike when the harvest ends in January, waiting until the vessels are fully laden to make their move; on the contrary, the sea clans tend to create disturbances during the pearl harvesting.

As for their motives, only heaven knows.

Three cultivators took turns standing guard, with Lu Shilun going first for ten days; Hou Niao second, and Zeng Ji covering the last ten days.

Within a hundred miles radius of ocean territory, from several hundred feet in the air, everything can still be seen very clearly.

During April and May each year, the area usually experiences calm seas and gentle waves with few towering surges or complex weather, which is favorable for pearl harvesting operations as the workers are ordinary people with almost no resistance to harsh weather conditions.

Hou Niao randomly chose a fishing boat and sat atop the mast, swaying with the waves; as the sails weren’t needed and the boat maintained a very slow speed while casting nets, the height was not much of an issue for him.

Cultivators of the Tongtian third realm still aren’t accustomed to constantly flying in the air—they always have to come down eventually.

The fishermen were working hard, pulling up heavy nets with windlasses, spreading heaps of Night Light Shells across the deck, anxiously searching through them for shells that contained Spiritual Pearls.

The process involved rough and fine sifting, after which the ordinary Night Light Shells were cast back into the sea.

Spiritual Pearls are very valuable, with no exchange rate to the currency of the secular world.

Just one could be enough for a lifetime’s living; but they couldn’t hide even a single one.

That’s why, apart from the three cultivators like Hou Niao, all the others on the entire fleet were ordinary mortals, to prevent potential theft; if there were low-rank cultivators among them, it would be difficult for anyone to resist such temptation.

Mortals are different—they simply can’t hide even one Spiritual Pearl, not even by swallowing it.

Benefits dictate the entire pearl harvesting process, including the composition of personnel, everything.

Hou Niao sat at the top of the mast, continuing his cultivation amidst the rocking and swaying, waiting for any news of an attack.

According to Zeng Ji, the probability of such was even higher than thirty percent.

The only thing giving them peace of mind was that the great sea demons wouldn’t come to such close waters.

For these great demons, was a depth of twenty or thirty feet even considered part of the ocean?

Some of them are even larger than this depth.

It is as absurd as humans trying to swim in a small stream that barely reaches their ankles.

After ten days, it was his turn to fly and patrol, essentially circling the entire shell field.

There was no demand for speed—how fast one flew depended solely on one’s sense of duty.

Having become somewhat accustomed to the ocean environment, he now had a certain understanding of some things and was no longer as utterly confused as when he first arrived.

In this shallow sea area, any anomalies would hardly conceal their tracks.

Most importantly, the fishermen on each boat would surely be the first to detect any disturbances and would signal for help at the slightest agitation.

He had rushed back and forth several times following such alarms, only to find they were false alarms.

In the ocean, one never ceases to encounter strangely shaped beings that seem like demons but are actually just ordinary marine creatures in search of food.

At the edge of the Shell Field, he encountered an uninvited guest secretly feasting on Spiritual Shells; it was his neighbor, the Red Gurnard, and its few remaining children.

The Red Gurnard mother did not eat, likely knowing that if she did, she would inevitably reveal her whereabouts.

It was the dozens of young Red Gurnards that were consuming the Spiritual Shells, so their appetite was limited.

It was quite normal for Lu Shilun not to have noticed; the creature was just too adept at camouflage.

However, Hou Niao was too familiar with the Red Gurnard family, so they could not escape his notice.

He did not stop these little ones from eating.

How much could they eat?

Moreover, the resources of the ocean floor were meant to be shared by all creatures.

Upon a closer look, he pretended not to know and left.

Hou Niao’s past ten days had been uneventful, and twenty days had passed.

It seemed very likely that this pearl picking would proceed smoothly.

Not only did he think so, but Lu Shilun and Zeng Ji thought the same.

Thus, according to the usual patterns of the Heavenly Dao, when everyone thought safety was near, trouble suddenly descended.

Zeng Ji’s characteristic screech echoed over the sea area.

He was quite frustrated; his two companions had encountered no issues during their patrols, but trouble arose on his first day.

His luck was truly exceptional.

The intruders were a group of Orcas, creatures that were not picky eaters at all, consuming fish, shellfish, anything that could fit in their mouths; their extremely powerful stomach acid could even dissolve hard shells quickly.

Most importantly, they knew that Night Light Shells were the most nutritious during this season.

The Orcas consuming Spiritual Shells were like humans swallowing Elixirs; but humans swallowing Elixirs have a limit, while these Orcas wouldn’t consider so much.

The strong vitality of Sea Demons allowed them to fearlessly consume any type of nourishment, especially naturally formed Spiritual Shells.

Orcas, though named whales, were relatively small compared to other members of the whale family tree.

Of course, that was relative to the behemoths in the deep sea.

To humans, they were still massive creatures.

Adult Orcas were about four to five zhang long, with bodies even bulkier than sharks and razor-sharp teeth, a sight imposing an indescribable sense of oppression.

This group of Orcas had migrated here in the dozens, attracted by the Night Light Shells.

Seeing them as a valuable source of nourishment, how could they pass up such an opportunity?

Among them, there were about ten leading Demon Whales, with seven or eight able to partially transform.

According to the understanding of the human Cultivation World, this was roughly equivalent to the third level of the Heavenly Dao in humans, which was why Zeng Ji’s cries were so piercing under the pressure.

When Hou Niao and Lu Shilun arrived, they were greeted with this situation.

Fortunately, no conflict had yet arisen, and both sides were still in standoff.

“What’s the situation?” Lu Shilun came from the Jiedu Mansion of Lihai and naturally took the lead among the three.

Zeng Ji’s face was ashen, “These Orcas suddenly appeared, demanding half of the Shell Field!

The leader’s attitude is firm, I fear negotiations may not go well.”

Lu Shilun stepped forward, “Daoist friends, Crab Island Shell Field has been operated by our Southwest nations for hundreds of years.

Each country has its laws, each sea has its rules.

If we all act recklessly, wouldn’t that mess up the order?

There are countless similar places in the ocean.

With the Whale Clan’s abilities, where can they not go?

Why insist on haggling over trivial gains here and spoil the harmony between our two clans?”

An Orca stepped out from the crowd, half-transformed into a human form with a lower human body but topped with a gigantic whale head, which looked ridiculously comical.

However, when it opened its large mouth, the fierceness was undiminished.

“Harmony between humans and our Sea Clan?

I have never heard of such a thing!

The Sea Clan can live peacefully with any species except with robbers.

Humans have operated here for hundreds of years, and it becomes human territory?

Ridiculous.

If that’s the case, what should we say, as the Sea Clan has been born and raised here for thousands or even tens of thousands of years?

Allowing you to leave is already mercy beyond the law, yet you dare to make demands?

Do you really think you own the Lizhi Sea?”